April 14th - Beard of the Day: Ernest Hemingway

by Killion on Apr 14, 2009 10:24 AM CDT

Ernest-hemingway31_medium

Oak Park's finest - Ernest Hemingway. Sure, he hated Oak Park saying it was a place of "Wide yards and narrow minds" but does anyone actually like Oak Park? Didn't think so..

By some accounts, Hemingway had a beard from the time he was 23 until he died. That's dedication right there. He also could drink you under the table and still have a steady hand to go shoot a lion later in the day.

Hemingway anecdote:

The garden behind Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West contained a fountain made from a urinal from his favorite bar, Sloppy Joe's. Hemingway reportedly told the owner that so much of his money had gone down that drain that he should own the damn thing.

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Nice.

I just finished reading The Sun Also Rises a few weeks ago, and I just had students write papers about “Soldier’s Home,” a fucking awesome Hemingway short story.

Hemingway was such an asshole, which is one of the main reasons I love him.

Also, Hemingway probably had good reason to dislike Oak Park; it was historically a very racist town, and there is some evidence to suggest that it was probably a “sundown town.” From what I know of Oak Park today, the racism is gone for the most part. It’s actually one of the places I’m looking at to get a job…

So… hockey?

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 14, 2009 10:58 AM CDT reply actions

All the great writers were drunks. Hemingway……that other guy….

—Dave Attell

by McClure on Apr 14, 2009 11:15 AM CDT up reply actions

ha!

Got more soul than a sock with a hole.

by chrome on Apr 14, 2009 11:53 AM CDT up reply actions

Faulkner, Fitzgerald...

and those other guys, too.

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 14, 2009 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Thompson

Speaking of great urinal stories and drunk authors (unfortunately beardless, this one) anyone ever been to Sterch’s?

Thompson went on a bender there one night, and destroyed the bathroom and the urinal. A few weeks later he sent them an apology letter and a check for the replacement of the urinal, along with an additional $2500 should he happen to tear it up again.

Got more soul than a sock with a hole.

by chrome on Apr 14, 2009 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions

Well, the great Hunter S. goes without saying...

and he was more than just a drunk.

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 14, 2009 12:16 PM CDT up reply actions

he was also more than just a man...

I have a HST-inspired tattoo

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Apr 14, 2009 12:25 PM CDT up reply actions

Dare I ask what it is?

I’ve got a tattoo of Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) that looks like this:

My brother, Bwana, has the same thing.

This is a delightfully schizophrenic and off-topic discussion we’re having in this thread…

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 14, 2009 12:33 PM CDT up reply actions

Only without “gonzo” written across it…

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Apr 14, 2009 1:29 PM CDT up reply actions

Nice.

Is it just a solid bar instead of “Gonzo?”

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 14, 2009 2:12 PM CDT up reply actions

just took out the gap entirely..

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Apr 14, 2009 2:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Sounds like a typical HST story too.

Where, exactly, is Sterch’s?

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 14, 2009 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions

A dive bar in Lincoln Park surrounded

by all the shitty big 10 sports bars. On lincoln.

Got more soul than a sock with a hole.

by chrome on Apr 14, 2009 4:07 PM CDT up reply actions

I’m proud to be an erratically contributing member of a hockey blog that tosses up a picture of Hemingway (and his beard) two days before its team’s first playoff experience in 7 years. No, really, I’m telling my friends.

If they stay Canadian on me and root for Calgary ahead of the Hawks, I’m aiming for pouches in our next road hockey game … in honor of SCH … and Papa.

by ChicoMaki on Apr 14, 2009 12:21 PM CDT reply actions